Nottinghamshire will be well represented with 12 athletes from the county taking part.

And these include local hopefuls, swimmers Charlotte Henshaw (Mansfield) and Sam Hynd (Kirkby), table tennis playerArnie Chan (Mansfield) and discus thrower Chris Martin (Mansfield).

Athens 2004 silver medalist Dan West and Sydney 2000 gold medalist Chris Martin will come up against each other in the F33 and 34 discus competition on the second day of action at the Games.

Swimmers Henshaw and in-form Hynd will both be making their Paralympic Games debuts in China while experienced Paralympians Chan and Nottingham’s James Rawson, will both compete in their sixth consecutive Games.

These two will also be competing in the same event in Beijing - the men’s class three singles - before teaming up to compete in the men’s class three team competition.

ParalympicsGB will be represented in 18 of the 20 sports at the Beijing Games, including five-a-side football for the first time at the Paralympics and rowing, which makes its Games debut.

The Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games opens on 6th September and closes on 17th September.

At the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, Britain finished second in the medal table with a total of 35 golds, 30 silver and 29 bronze medals.

With competitive standards continually rising and the dominant Chinese team taking the home advantage ParalympicsGB recognises that the 2008 Paralympics will be one of its biggest challenges yet.

For more information about these athletes, or any of the ParalympicsGB team for Beijing, visit www.paralympics.org.uk